Getting Started

Depending on where you are at in your exercising decision process, you may not need to read this entire page. You can skip to the portion that is most appropriate to you by following these links:

• Just starting out (trying/purchasing)
• Beginning your program
• Things to do every workout
• Recording your progress

Just starting out

If you have never exercised before but you want to get started, here are some steps to get going:

• If you don't already own one, buy a bathroom scale to track your weight. I didn't own one and quite frankly I didn't want to weigh myself. Sure enough, I was about 25 pounds heavier than I thought when I started exercising seriously. Follow this link for more information on weighing yourself.
  
  
• Try before you buy. Most fitness centers or your local Y will let you try out their facilities for a day for free or cheaply. This is your opportunity to try out an exerbent as well as other exercise equipment to see what you're comfortable using. If available, especially try out a regular exercise bike versus a recumbent (exerbent). It might turn out that you're more comfortable using a regular bike (though I think most folks will like exerbents better).
  
  
• Do your own research on exerbents and choose one that seems right for you. If possible, try to find a store or fitness facility that has the exact model you want to buy and try it out first.
  
  
• Consult your doctor. While I think it's true that almost every health care provider will tell you that nearly everyone should exercise, it's nonetheless a good idea to check with your doctor before starting a program of regular exercise. They will know you well enough to recommend what is best for you. Also, please see our disclaimer.

Beginning your program

If you have never exercised, it's extremely important to take things slow at first. If you over-do it on your first day, that might make for some sore legs and a bad experience and you might never use your equipment again. Therefore, follow these steps to get going:

• Locate your exerbent in a room you know will work well for you. In my case, it was in a bedroom with a door so I could shut out my pets, and in front of a TV.
  
  
• There are some other items you may want to have nearby while you are exercising:
  • A bottle of cool water
  • A towel to wipe off sweat as needed
  • A pen, paper, and small table or other writing surface so you can record your exercise results
    
    
• Start with just a short workout of maybe 15^[?] minutes at an easy level, then take a day off and go again the day after. After a couple weeks you can increase the length and frequency of your workouts as you feel comfortable. The basic idea here is that you don't want to do anything that will cause you to not continue workouts in the future (like becoming too tired or getting cramps or sore legs).
  
  
• Your goal: your eventual goal here is to be working out an hour at a time each day, but there's no need to hurry to get there. Choose the length and level and frequency of your workouts based on what you're comfortable with, what will keep you coming back, and what you've discussed with your health care provider.

Things to do every workout

Each day when you work out on your exerbent, be sure to do these things:

• Wear comfortable clothes. Anything that you might typically use for working out is fine. I wear shorts, a short sleeve t-shirt, underwear, socks, and comfortable exercise shoes (I don't like spandex myself for these workouts).
  
  
• Stretch your legs a bit before working out. This is so you can avoid cramps that might sideline you for awhile. A minute or two of stretching your legs will help you avoid cramps. I do two stretching exercises: (1) in a squatting position, I shift my weight to slowly back and forth on each leg so I can feel my calves being stretched from the bottom and my quadriceps being stretched from the front. (2) In a standing position, I put one leg forward and the other leg back; I keep the back foot positioned with the heel on the floor, then slowly bend my front leg at the knee. I can then feel my calves and back-of-the-leg muscles stretching. I do this for each leg, of course.
  
  
• Get going right away after stretching. Once you've stretched your legs, hop on and get spinning! No point in delaying your workout at this point; get moving!
  
  
• Make sure you have water within reach. Throughout your workout, be sure to sip some cool water at least every 15 or 20 minutes to help keep you hydrated and replace any lost sweat water. Sip, don't guzzle.
  
  
• Motivate yourself. Whatever you need to do to keep up your workouts, do it. If that means listening to the theme from "Rocky" for your entire workout, do it. If it's listening to Barry Manilow, do it! If it's watching sports, praying, reading, whatever you need to do to keep yourself going during workouts, do it!

Recording your progress

Whether just in a journal or on a piece of paper or using a spreadsheet, keep track of your workouts. This will enable you to look back over time and point to all the exercising you've done. You might want to share this information with your health care provider, or publish it on a blog! Regardless of your method, keeping records is very wise. Here are the things I typically record from each of my workouts:

• The date
• The length of time I worked out
• How many "exerbent miles" I logged
• Which built-in or custom program I used and its difficulty level
• How many calories the exerbent reports I burned
• In 2008, after fixing my exerbent's heart rate monitor, I started tracking my daily recovery score (how much my heart rate decreased in the first minute after a completed workout)

Your own exerbent might have more or less information to record, but keep track of everything you want.